Protection case gathers pace
IT wasn’t that long ago that batsmen would face the world’s quickest bowlers with nothing more than a peaked cap or broad-brimmed hat for head protection.
And you only have to look back to the beginning of Lance Armstrong’s drug-fuelled Tour de France era to see the majority of cyclists in the peloton flashing down mountains at speeds of 90km/h wearing only their team caps.
In the space of two decades, the cultures in both those sports has been flipped completely.
Helmets are now the norm at the top level of cricket and cycling, and therefore it has become the norm at every other level. So should footy follow suit?
Helmets in Aussie Rules aren’t new, they have been around in different forms for decades, but the talk of head trauma in our game continues to ramp up at pace.
No one can say for sure the long-term effects of head trauma on AFL players who have been involved in heavy on-field collisions.
The ongoing issues surrounding head trauma in sport make the debate about football helmets timely.
Young people follow what they see on television, so if helmets become more commonplace in the AFL, more kids — and their parents — might be influenced to take some extra protection into games.
A lot of local cricketers over the age of 40 may still take to the crease without a helmet, but it is rare to see a young person even face a spinner without one on their head. Frankly, they don’t see the old blokes wearing just hats as being brave, rather just a bit stupid.
Change can happen quickly.